[PATCH v10 4/7] signal: define the SA_UNSUPPORTED bit in sa_flags

Peter Collingbourne pcc at google.com
Wed Oct 7 22:21:25 EDT 2020


On Tue, Sep 8, 2020 at 8:13 AM Dave Martin <Dave.Martin at arm.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2020 at 10:10:14PM -0700, Peter Collingbourne wrote:
>
> Nit: no statement of the chage being made (other than in the subject
> line).

Will fix.

> > This bit will never be supported in the uapi. The purpose of this flag
> > bit is to allow userspace to distinguish an old kernel that does not
> > clear unknown sa_flags bits from a kernel that supports every flag bit.
> >
> > In other words, if userspace finds that this bit remains set in
> > oldact.sa_flags, it means that the kernel cannot be trusted to have
> > cleared unknown flag bits from sa_flags, so no assumptions about flag
> > bit support can be made.
>
> This isn't quite right?  After a single sigaction() call, oact will
> contain the sa_flags for the previously registered handler.  So a
> second sigaction() call would be needed to find out the newly effective
> sa_flags.

You're right, this is unclear to say the least. In v11 I will reword like so:

    In other words, if userspace does something like:

      act.sa_flags |= SA_UNSUPPORTED;
      sigaction(SIGSEGV, &act, 0);
      sigaction(SIGSEGV, 0, &oldact);

    and finds that SA_UNSUPPORTED remains set in oldact.sa_flags, it means
    that the kernel cannot be trusted to have cleared unknown flag bits
    from sa_flags, so no assumptions about flag bit support can be made.

> >
> > Signed-off-by: Peter Collingbourne <pcc at google.com>
> > ---
> > View this change in Gerrit: https://linux-review.googlesource.com/q/Ic2501ad150a3a79c1cf27fb8c99be342e9dffbcb
> >
> >  include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h | 7 +++++++
> >  kernel/signal.c                        | 6 ++++++
> >  2 files changed, 13 insertions(+)
> >
> > diff --git a/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h b/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h
> > index 319628058a53..e853cbe8722d 100644
> > --- a/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h
> > +++ b/include/uapi/asm-generic/signal-defs.h
> > @@ -14,6 +14,12 @@
> >   * SA_RESTART flag to get restarting signals (which were the default long ago)
> >   * SA_NODEFER prevents the current signal from being masked in the handler.
> >   * SA_RESETHAND clears the handler when the signal is delivered.
> > + * SA_UNSUPPORTED is a flag bit that will never be supported. Kernels from
> > + * before the introduction of SA_UNSUPPORTED did not clear unknown bits from
> > + * sa_flags when read using the oldact argument to sigaction and rt_sigaction,
> > + * so this bit allows flag bit support to be detected from userspace while
> > + * allowing an old kernel to be distinguished from a kernel that supports every
> > + * flag bit.
> >   *
> >   * SA_ONESHOT and SA_NOMASK are the historical Linux names for the Single
> >   * Unix names RESETHAND and NODEFER respectively.
> > @@ -42,6 +48,7 @@
> >  #ifndef SA_RESETHAND
> >  #define SA_RESETHAND 0x80000000
> >  #endif
> > +#define SA_UNSUPPORTED       0x00000400
>
> I guess people may debate which bit is chosen, but your consolidation
> of these definitions should help to reduce the possibility of future
> collisions.  This bit appears unused for now, so I guess I don't have a
> strong opinion.
>
> >  #define SA_NOMASK    SA_NODEFER
> >  #define SA_ONESHOT   SA_RESETHAND
> > diff --git a/kernel/signal.c b/kernel/signal.c
> > index f802c82c7bcc..c80e70bde11d 100644
> > --- a/kernel/signal.c
> > +++ b/kernel/signal.c
> > @@ -3984,6 +3984,12 @@ int do_sigaction(int sig, struct k_sigaction *act, struct k_sigaction *oact)
> >       if (oact)
> >               *oact = *k;
> >
> > +     /*
> > +      * Make sure that we never accidentally claim to support SA_UNSUPPORTED,
> > +      * e.g. by having an architecture use the bit in their uapi.
> > +      */
> > +     BUILD_BUG_ON(UAPI_SA_FLAGS & SA_UNSUPPORTED);
> > +
>
> Seems reasonable.
>
> With the above rewording in the commit message to clarify that a second
> sigaction() is needed:
>
> Reviewed-by: Dave Martin <Dave.Martin at arm.com>

Thanks for the review.

Peter



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